Thursday 8 October 2015 12:38, UK
Michel Platini has insisted reports he was to be suspended are "insidious" leaks by a FIFA source designed to damage his reputation.
Platini issued a statement shortly before it was revealed that the UEFA president and FIFA president Sepp Blatter had been suspended by FIFA's ethics committee for 90 days following an investigation into a £1.35m payment made to the Frenchman by FIFA in 2011.
FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke was also suspended for 90 days.
Platini has always remained determined to push his candidacy for the FIFA presidency with elections in February and on Thursday morning he said he would "stop at nothing to ensure that the truth is known".
In a statement, Platini said: "It was reported last night that the investigatory chamber of the FIFA ethics committee intends to recommend to its adjudicatory chamber that I be given a 90-day suspension.
"This is clearly an extremely serious matter - all the more so given that this information appears to have come from an official FIFA source, despite the fact that the ethics committee, which is supposed to act with full independence, has not yet issued its decision.
"This deliberate leak - which is insidious in nature and has come about in an unacceptable manner - is essentially an attempt to damage my reputation."
Platini is being investigated by Swiss prosecutors and FIFA's ethics committee over a Swiss franc payment signed off by Blatter in February 2011 apparently for work as technical advisor carried out between 1999 and 2002.
He has not publicly explained the reasons for a nine-year delay in the payment other that when he started his role as Blatter's advisor in 1999 he was told "that it was not initially possible to pay the totality of my salary because of FIFA's financial situation at that time".
Platini's statement continued: "Over the last few weeks, I have stressed my willingness to cooperate fully with the authorities carrying out the various enquiries in compliance with the strictest procedural rules. FIFA, on the other hand, has clearly flouted those rules.
"I have always acted and expressed myself with honesty, courage and candour, as I feel that this is my moral duty. If what is being reported regarding the intentions of the investigatory chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee is indeed true, I will stop at nothing to ensure that the truth is known. Nobody should be in any doubt as to my determination to achieve that objective.
"In the meantime, a dispassionate, independent and impartial judicial body needs to shine a light on the events that led the FIFA Ethics Committee to open these investigatory proceedings.
"This morning I submitted the letters of support that are required in order to stand as a candidate for the presidency of FIFA. As I have always done since 2007, I will fulfil my obligations after consulting UEFA's 54 member associations, which I will ask to convene shortly in Nyon. I will also meet with all the other confederations and FIFA's member associations in the spirit of openness that has always characterised my actions.
"I am certain that we will overcome this difficulty with full transparency and the unity that gives football its strength."
